There is something about Austrian eccentricity or individuality in contemporary
music which is hard to define, but once recognised is highly
infectious. A place filled with yodelling, schrammelmusik, alphorns
and innumerable types of folksy dancing could be the only place
to throw up names such as Werner Pirchner and the ‘Third
Viennese School’ collaborators H K Gruber and Kurt Schwertsik.
I am a huge fan of their teasing intellect and irrepressible
sense of humour and the surreal.

The term MOB was coined by Kurt Schwertsik as part of the 1960s
‘MOB art & tone ART’ ensemble. Gruber’s
3 Mob Pieces are originally for interchangeable ensemble,
but were arranged for Hardenberger in 1999 in their present
form. These short pieces are eminently accessible, being descended
from works such as Stravinsky’s neoclassical Dumbarton
Oaks and jazzy Ebony Concerto. Full of artful harmonies,
rhythm and counterpoint, these are fascinating jewels which
are endlessly entertaining and deliver a great lift of mood
every time I hear them, especially when played as well as here.
The trumpet concerto Busking has appeared before on the
BIS label (see review),
with the same soloist, same orchestra, and the same conductor.
With the same timings and recording date I think we can safely
assume it is in fact the same recording, though no mention is
made of this in the present release. Perhaps BIS-CD-1781 wasn’t
selling too well and they decided to breathe new life into what
is after all a terrific performance of a superb piece. With
accordion and banjo included with the string orchestra the work
has moments of Kurt Weill-esque pop-ness in the jaunty opening
Presto. The beautiful second movement Largo sees
the soloist playing the more gentle flugelhorn, the banjo adding
pointillist drops of rain to a kind of moody nocturne over which
the accordion paints lines of light below Hardenberger’s
melancholy melodies. The final Allegro opens with dancing
rhythms in the strings accordion and banjo, followed by a cool
cadenza, and plenty of “polytonal and polymetrical high
jinks” to finish. My only criticism with this recording
of Busking is the rather too distant string orchestra,
which could have done with a little more presence in the balance,
though this might have revealed more about their discomfort
with some of the more extreme technical demands of the piece.
This is in fact a minor point, with the ear drawn to and satisfied
with the novelty and skill in the solo parts.

Kurt Schwertsik’s Divertimento Macchiato was written
for Håkan Hardenberger, and the title disguises what is
in fact pretty much a full-blown trumpet concerto. The opening
immediately throws the name of Stravinsky up into the air, and
there are little touches throughout the piece which remind one
of, maybe a bit of Bartók here, maybe a bit of Martinů
or Milhaud or something else to throw into a melting pot of
pungently distinctive associations. The piece is in no way derivative,
but stands in a tradition which, as the title suggests, stretches
back to Mozart and Haydn, and acknowledges its firm place in
a powerful European context. Contrasting moods take us into
realms both playful and dark, but the essential mood is one
which Malcolm Macdonald points to as “melancholy and defiance”
in his booklet notes. This sense of the disturbed and the disjointed
lends depth and reflectiveness to even the more jocular movements,
the trumpet sometimes a lonely voice, singing or surfing above
an orchestra which evokes its own intensity, as with the important
Notturno fourth movement. The following Finale
has a similar sense of grim fun to some of Malcolm Arnold’s
lighter moments, and this is followed by an Epilogo and
a big cadenza, “a soliloquy almost Mahlerian in its sense
of loneliness and desolation.”

If your fear of contemporary music is the equivalent of crossing
a busy autobahn on foot, then let H K Gruber, Kurt Schwertsik
and Håkan Hardenberger be your guides. This programme
is a kind of rainbow bridge which can take you into new realms
by way of works which are new and fresh, while at the same time
offering welcoming colours of familiarity and an entertaining
lightness of touch. The brilliance of a soloist who can communicate
and give the trumpet character as few others can is also by
no means the least of many attractions. You may not realise
you need this CD until you have it, but once you do it becomes
instantly irreplaceable.

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